


between the drinks and subtle things

by poe_daaaayyuuuumron8



Series: OW [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Attempt at Humor, Drinking, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Family Fluff, Feelings Are Difficult, Feelings Realization, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Found Family, Genji Shimada is a Little Shit, Humor, Jesse is a Responsible Human Being, Light Angst, M/M, Slice of Life, but only when it comes to others, shits and giggles, that's all this is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:34:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27552391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poe_daaaayyuuuumron8/pseuds/poe_daaaayyuuuumron8
Summary: A night in the life of Jesse McCree, as a struggling college student, hanging out with his friends who like to meddle more than he would like.Or:A night in the life of Hanzo Shimada, when his brother drags him to one of his and his friends' get-togethers, where he meets many new people.Or:A night for the young, and a night that none will forget.
Relationships: Emily/Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Fareeha "Pharah" Amari & Jesse McCree & Angela "Mercy" Ziegler, Fareeha "Pharah" Amari/Angela "Mercy" Ziegler, Jean-Baptiste Augustin/Lúcio Correia dos Santos, Jesse McCree & Genji Shimada, Jesse McCree & Hanzo Shimada, Jesse McCree & Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Jesse McCree & Lúcio Correia dos Santos, Jesse McCree & Reaper | Gabriel Reyes, Jesse McCree & Sombra | Olivia Colomar, Jesse McCree/Genji Shimada, Jesse McCree/Hanzo Shimada, Junkrat | Jamison Fawkes/Mei-Ling Zhou, Literally they are all just besties, Reaper | Gabriel Reyes/Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison
Series: OW [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2051115
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	between the drinks and subtle things

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this is 10k of some crack-fic stuff right here, I really hope you have as much fun reading this as I had writing this because I really have no clue how this much happened and the story-line here is kinda crack, but hopefully it's not terrible! Thanks for reading y’all!  
> Title from We Are Young by fun.  
> Also I'm having a crisis because apparently this is soooo much longer than I thought it was and I am so so sorry. So sorry.

“Come on! C’mon, c’mon, c’mon, come on!” Genji whined, dropping his head onto Jesse’s shoulder and bouncing up and down.

“Come on Jesse, just take a break! Come with us. We won’t even stay for the whole night,” Fareeha told him, hopping down from the counter to steal a slice of cheese from the pack and toss it at Genji’s face. 

Genji jerked away from the flying cheese, letting Jesse’s dog, Peacekeeper, gobble it up. “Yeah! We won’t stay for long, just long enough for you to relax a little!” Genji explained, throwing his arms around Jesse’s shoulder and burying his face in the back of his neck. 

“I’ve got an essay due soon, darlin’, I can’t go with you,” Jesse explained again and tried not to roll his eyes at his friend’s antics.

“C’mon, Jess, it’ll be easier for me if you just drive!” Lúcio called from the living room. Jesse didn’t refrain from rolling his eyes that time. It’s not like there isn’t anybody else here that could drive Lúcio. Fareeha, sitting on the counter as Jesse made himself a sandwich, gave Jesse a pointed look. 

“Essay. Due. Like, _now_ ,” Jesse repeated, before shoving half of his sandwich into his mouth and extracting himself from Genji’s hold. 

“Please?” Genji whined. “My brother will finally be there and I want him to meet you.” 

Jesse sighed heavily, and stared down at the essay he was supposed to be writing, then looked between Genji and Fareeha. “I will go,” -they all cheered- “On one condition.” Genji stopped, his grin faltering. “I get to say when we leave, no matter what time it is.” They all readily agreed and Genji bounced up and down, his scars pulling as he grinned. 

“Put on a different shirt!” Lúcio called, as he bounced into the kitchen and tossed the keys to Genji. Genji caught them and ran to the door, shoving his shoes on and throwing it open. 

“What’s wrong with this one?” Jesse asked, and feigned hurt. 

“It makes you look like a cowboy,” Fareeha explained, grabbing a sweatshirt off of the kitchen island that Jesse was pretty sure wasn’t even hers. 

“I happen t’ like cowboys,” Jesse grumbled, but still grabbed a different shirt and went to change. 

“Olivia!” he called up the stairs as he haphazardly threw his discarded shirt into the hallway outside of his room and put the other one on. 

A noise came from the general vicinity of the horridly-purple room and Jesse took that as an answer. “I’m heading out, tell dad when he gets home!” 

“Tell me yourself, mijo,” came Gabriel Reyes’ reply as he stepped into the entryway, discarding his jacket on the coat hanger. 

“Oh, hey pops,” Jesse grinned, as the others echoed his reply, only half joking about the title given to him. 

Gabriel rolled his eyes, but was smiling. “Don’t get home too late, Jesse, but go have fun, niño. And pick that shirt up before you leave.” 

Jesse rolled his eyes but jogged up the stairs and tossed the shirt into his room, closing the door before Gabriel could lecture him about the mess. 

“Bye! Oh, and tell Jack that I’m still down for tomorrow please!” Jesse called, and closed the front door behind him as he left, and the others raced forward and into the car. Jesse grabbed the keys from Genji as Fareeha helped Lúcio get into the car, and ignored the pout sent his way by Genji. 

Jesse, for the most part, was actually relieved that he was getting out of the house for once. Law school was hell, like, 97.65% of the time, and tonight would be a welcome respite from the usually stressful and monotonous days. 

The drive to Mei’s was short, but Genji and Lúcio filled it with their loud talking. Fareeha wasn’t much more resigned, but at least she stayed in her seat. (Genji decided to play Red Light at one stop so he could grab a piece of gum from Fareeha, even though there were _several_ other much easier and more obvious, and not at all illegal ways to do that. Lúcio had climbed from one side of the car to the back to grab his phone from where it was left in the bag with their snacks- gluten free for Jesse and peanut free for Fareeha. Jesse cursed them out profusely, but couldn’t stop laughing at them.)

Mei’s house was quaint and sweet, and the light dusting of snow made it look like powdered sugar on a gingerbread house. There were even Christmas lights on the roof and decorations in the window, even though it wasn't even December yet. The one thing that stood out in the storybook-like house was the 6’4’ Australian amputee rolling around in the front yard in hardly enough clothes for below freezing temperatures.

Jamison, a - sadly - long time friend of Jesse’s jerked his head up at the car pulling into the driveway and promptly yanked Jesse out of the driver’s seat, bouncing up and down like the excitable puppy he truly was. Jesse let himself be manhandled with only mild complaining, and even tolerated Jamie running inside and screaming into the house that he was here. Promptly, Brigette, Lena, Emily, and Mei were all outside, hugging him until he practically couldn’t breathe. It really had been a while since he last saw them, Jesse realized, as Brigette practically lifted him off the ground with her hug. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m here, I know, I’m so great,” Jesse joked, before grabbing Lúcio and helping him inside. 

His (adopted and half brother, but their dads, Jack and Gabe, had been together for so long they hardly even really noticed they weren’t biologically related anymore, even though both of them were adopted, separately) brother immediately ditched him for Baptiste, who was also here for once (and who Jesse knows Lúcio has had an enormous crush on for the longest time) and Jesse was left standing slightly awkwardly in the entryway, until Genji practically hopped on his back and dragged him into the living room as Mei gave him a rundown on the activities for tonight, which happened to be undecided at the moment.

Jesse rolled his eyes, but he really didn’t know what he expected. Their group was notoriously bad at planning, and tonight was no different. 

There were drinks in the kitchen- some sort of mixed cocktail made by Jamie that nobody had had the balls to try yet- and Snowball the puppy sprinted around on his too-big paws, running into Jesse’s leg more than a couple times. The counters were piled with liquor (Jesse grabbed a beer for him, a glass of prosecco for Genji, a fruity mocktail for Lúcio, and a White Claw for Fareeha) and snacks. There were snowflake cookies with blue icing, and about 7 bags of family sized chips. Jesse smiled at the carefully organized mess and brought the drinks to the others. 

Fareeha, deep in conversation with Angela, who was fussing over Fareeha’s split knuckles, accepted the alcohol gratefully, and sent her eyes darting between Jesse and Angela in a silent conversation. Angela didn’t notice but Jesse did. He made a face at her and looked to Angela, eyes wide, then back to Fareeha. Fareeha rolled her eyes and looked away. Jesse rolled his eyes back at her and went to give Lúcio his drink. 

Lúcio was also deeply involved in listening to Baptiste, nodding like a bobble-head as he listened to his story. Jesse dropped off his drink, and left without comment. They were so invested in talking to each other, they barely even noticed him, Jesse chuckled to himself. 

Genji was waiting at the window, sparing glances between his phone and glancing outside. When Jesse glances at his phone, he sees that the keyboard was turned to Japanese, which meant either Genji was talking about something private, or talking to someone from his earlier life. Or both. Probably both, considering Jesse just remembered Genji mentioning his brother was coming. 

“Waiting on your brother?” Jesse asked him and handed him his drink. 

Genji’s furrowed brow melted away and he smiled at Jesse, accepting the drink and taking a large sip. “Yeah, he should be here soon,” he answered, and no sooner did he say that then a car pulled up to the curb. 

Genji’s face immediately broke into a grin and he dashed to the door, nearly spilling his drink and falling on his ass. He unlocked the door and dashed out, not even stopping to put his shoes back on. Jesse chuckled and leaned against the door frame, making sure Snowball didn’t run out the front door, watching as someone stepped out of the driver’s side of the door and was met with an armful of Genji. Genji’s brother didn’t seem surprised by his clinginess, and seemed to adjust accordingly, even managing to put his phone and keys into his pocket, while Genji still hung off of him. 

Jesse noted that they were talking, probably in Japanese, in low tones that didn’t carry well through the chilly night air, and Genji appeared perfectly content to just stay wrapped in his brother’s arms. 

Eventually, they pulled back, when Jesse noted that Genji had pulled his hands into his sleeves (as best as he could while still trying to hold his prosecco), and brought his shoulders up to his ears, meaning he was cold. Genji threw an arm around his brother’s shoulders and led him up to the path to the house. Jesse turned away, hearing Jamison call his name, and started towards the Aussie. 

-

Hanzo should really just go home. More than anything else, he wants to go home. But, this is Genji, and he really should just be thankful that Genji is still in his life and wants to still be his brother, so now Hanzo is loitering at the stop sign right before the house he is supposed to be at. Genji texts him again and he responds quickly, saying he’s here and sending it before he can chicken out completely.

Sighing and steeling himself, Hanzo jerks from his contemplation by the sound of the car behind him honking. He winces and turns, finding the house Genji had described fairly easily, from the cars in the driveway and curb, and the Christmas decorations already up.

Hanzo pulled up behind a van with a green frog sticker on it, turned the car off, grabbed his keys and phone, and took a deep breath before getting out of the car. He just managed to close the door when a force hit him. The action was so familiar, Hanzo didn’t even need to readjust his footing to compensate for the person throwing themself at him.

Genji’s shock of neon green hair was the only thing Hanzo could see of his brother. He could feel the hard metal of his synthetic limbs and jaw. The familiar feeling of tightness, like a hand around his lungs, surfaced in Hanzo’s chest at that but he tried to shove it down, shoving his keys and phone into his pocket, one arm still around his brother’s back.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Genji mumbled in Japanese and Hanzo wrapped his arms around his brother more securely, carefully.

“Do not get used to it,” Hanzo teased, although it was mostly half-hearted. Genji didn’t seem like he was about to let go any time soon, and against the cold air of the night, Hanzo welcomed his brother’s clinginess that he had nearly forgotten.

“It’s cold,” Genji murmured.

“Let us go inside then,” Hanzo murmured back. Neither of them made an advance to let go. Finally, Hanzo forced himself to move. “Come, you will freeze.” Genji pulled away, his hands sliding up into his sleeves of his lilac-colored oversized sweatshirt, and his shoulders up to his ears, shivering slightly as a gust of wind swept across the yard. Genji threw his arm around Hanzo’s shoulders and pulled him close.

“Come! Let me introduce you!” Genji laughed, and pulled him forward, up the path to the house.

“I do not know if I should be here,” Hanzo muttered, voicing his doubts for once.

“Of course you should! It’s going to be so much fun!” Genji jumped up and down, rocking Hanzo and nearly making them both fall.

“Careful,” Hanzo admonished lightly and straightened them both, looking up to Genji. (He hates that he actually has to look up at him now, when for so long he had to look down just to see the top of his head. When did his little brother grow so tall?) “Yes, I am sure it will be fine.”

Genji led them both inside and promptly pushed Hanzo into what appeared to be the living room, with the most people.

“Hey everyone! This is my brother, Hanzo!” Genji yelled, grinning. “He’s super cool, and he’s my big brother, and he works in architecture and he’s a professional archer and he is the best and super cool and has a new hipster style,” -Genji paused, looking Hanzo up and down, from his black denim jacket over a mustard yellow sweatshirt, to his baggy joggers and combat boots- “but it’s hot and great and, yeah! This is Hanzo!”

There were a bunch of pretty enthusiastic _hello_ ’s directed at him and Hanzo dipped his head in hello.

“Hi!” said a short, aggressively british girl. ”I’m Lena! Or Tracer, but mostly Lena. It’s nice to meet you!” she said and waved excitedly. Hanzo waved back, a little awkwardly.

“Welcome to the, uh,” a man in two bulky leg braces with the thickest dreadlocks Hanzo had ever seen, said. “Do we have like a, uh, a club name or something?” he laughed, and Hanzo decided that he liked him.

The others laughed too, one very tall and lanky man with a prosthetic leg and arm, sounding more like a squeaky wheel than an actual laugh.

“The, ‘Most of Us Are Disabled in Some Way,’ club?” the squeaky-laugher said, raising his prosthetics, in a thick Australian accent.

“How about the, ‘Professional Idiots and Found Family Trope?’” a brown-skinned woman with an Eye of Horus tattoo offered, in a Middle Eastern accent.

“The, ‘If Nothing Else, We’re Diverse,’ club,” a man said, rounding the corner with two drinks in hand, which he gave to a shorter and stouter Asian woman and a tall blonde with gentle eyes. His thick Southern-American accent stood out first to Hanzo, then his face in general. His face was _damn fine_.

He was at least partially Latino, from his dark skin, dark eyes, and dark hair, with sun-freckles and a dimple on one side when he smiled. His eyes were like the bark of firewood, soft and gentle too. His slightly scraggly beard covered too much of his very nice face, in Hanzo’s opinion, and his hair flopped into his eyes every chance it got.

The group laughed and ultimately decided that that was the new club name.

“Hanzo, this is Jesse McCree. He’s the best!” Genji gushed.

Jesse offered him a half-salute, half-wave, and sent him a half-smile that Hanzo wanted to melt from. Instead, Hanzo just tipped his head in acknowledgement and tried not to die from dehydration.

“C’mon, let’s get you a drink!” Genji grinned and dragged Hanzo into the kitchen.

-

“Holyyyyyy crap.” Lúcio was the first one to talk, in a near silent whisper. Baptiste nodded, staring at the place where Hanzo was standing moments before.

“Well,” Jamie said. “My self confidence has gone down.”

“Nobody fucking told us he was _hot_ ,” Fareeha whispered agressively to Jesse, bounding up to him. Jesse whirled around, eyes wide.

“Oh, I’m so glad it’s not just me,” he whispered back, equally as aggressive.

“Holy fuck! I mean, I’m _gay_ , and I think he’s hot!” Fareeha whisper-shouted.

“Oh my god,” Jesse muttered, and pressed a hand to his forehead. “’S hot in here, right? That’s not just me?”

Like, half the room, nodded along with Jesse.

-

The Shimada brothers looked more like cousins than they did brothers.

Where Genji was skinny and tall, Hanzo was muscle, with broad shoulders and chest, and a thin waist. Where Genji had soft and gentle features- a button nose, full lips, doe eyes that you could get lost in- Hanzo had sharper features- a strong jaw, sharp nose, angular chin, narrow, dark eyes. Where Genji had scars, Hanzo had enough piercings to set off a metal detector. Where Genji had a shock of neon green, eternally messy and floppy hair that always fell past his eyes, Hanzo had dark hair, shaved nearly bald on the sides, with the top long enough to reach past his collarbones and one lock short enough that it would always fall out of his bun and across his face. Where Genji had 3 prosthetic limbs, a neck and spine brace, and a synthetic jaw, Hanzo had only one more limb than his brother, with his legs gone in an accident. (At the time he truly thought it was karma, or that he had deserved it. Now, he really thinks no different.) 

The only things that were similar between them was their eye color, although it was presented so differently between them.

(Genji’s eyes were like pools of coal that could see through your soul, surrounded by gold. Hanzo’s eyes were like obsidian stones that stare through your bone, like black roses overgrown.)

Their eyebrows were the same too; straight until flaring out at the end. And their skin color.

But that was it.

Back in Hanamura they were hardly ever regarded as brothers.

But Hanamura was a different time.

Their family, being groomed into roles that they were supposed to fit, was a different time.

Hanzo despises his family.

-

“I think you enjoy flustering people,” Genji grinned, poking Hanzo in the cheek. Hanzo jerked away, frowning.

“What do you mean?” Hanzo replied defensively, surveying the arrangement of alcohol and other drinks. There was an interestingly colored cocktail mixture in front of him, which he sniffed, then promptly had to blink away tears because of how strong it was.

“I mean look at you! With your hot-ass hipster vibes, and face full of metal!” Genji grinned. “I swear, don’t you hear them?” He motioned back to the living room, where the others were failing to whisper about Hanzo. 

“For the sake of their dignities, I do not,” Hanzo only half-joked. Genji snorted and rolled his eyes. Genji handed him a drink and led him back into the living room, loudly continuing a fake conversation so the others would quit thirsting over Hanzo. 

“Anyway, so Hanzo, this is everybody!” Genji announced. “Here’s Lena-”

“Hiya!” said the short british woman from before, looking up from the card game at hand.

“Emily-”

Emily offered a wave, almost shyly, and her red hair dropped into her face. 

“Mei-” 

“Hello,” said a short and stout woman, sitting next to the Australian amputee, playing cards for both of them.

“Jamison, but you can call him Jamie-”

The Australian waved, jerking his chin up. “G’day.” 

“Brigette-” 

“Hallo!” This woman had biceps nearly as big as Hanzo’s face, and a beer as big as her biceps.

“Angela and Fareeha-” 

The gentle-eyed blonde woman and the brown skinned woman with the accents both waved. 

“Lúcio and Jean-” 

“Just Baptiste works for me,” said a tall dark-skinned man with a teal and orange sweatshirt.

“Lúcio, coming at you,” said the man in the leg braces Hanzo had already decided he liked, as he aggressively clacked away at a gaming controller, staring intently at the TV. 

“And Jesse.” 

The _hella_ fine Southerner from before waved, also at the card game, frowning at his cards, while biting the inside of his cheek. “Howdy.” 

“Hey how much do y’all hate me?” Jesse asked, before anyone could say anything else. 

“Oh, without a doubt, you are _the_ most hated person in this room,” Jamison- Jamie -said. 

“More than anything,” Mei said at his side, in her pleasant and sweet tone. 

“You suck, McCree,” Fareeha, Hanzo thinks, calls from the other side of the room. 

Jesse’s face breaks into a wide smile. “Y’all ‘bout’a hate me even more,” he said as he placed all of his cards down and went out in the game of Rumi. 

“You gotta be shittin’ me,” Jamie laughed, and threw his arms into the air. “’M ‘ardly even playin’ and I’m mad a’ tha’.” 

Lena sighs animatedly and counts up her and Emily’s cards. “Negative 170 for me, negative 50 for Em.” 

“1,260 for me,” Jesse hummed with a grin on his face. All of the players at the table groaned and rolled their eyes at him. 

“How do you even do that!” Emily laughed and dropped her head onto Lena’s arm. 

“Ehh, I’m pretty good at this kinda stuff,” Jesse laughed. Jamie rolled his eyes and threw a plastic cup (thankfully empty) at Jesse’s face. Jesse dodged and laughed, and stood.

“I’ll give y’all a round to catch up with me, a’ight? Genji, ya wanna come play?” Jesse grinned.

Genji, seemingly oblivious to the not-quite-insult, bounded over and happily took Jesse’s seat. “Awesome! How do I play?” he asked, looking up to Jesse with what Hanzo called his ‘baby face,’ that made nearly everyone melt. Jesse appeared not quite as practiced as Hanzo was at being immune to the face, and pulled up a chair to talk Genji through the round.

Hanzo wasn’t sure if he was imagining the closeness of the two of them, or if his brother and Jesse were actually together, but either way, he looked away and tried to ignore the previous feelings he had towards McCree.

“Hey Hanzo, you play Cod?” Lúcio called from the couch. “We’re playing WWII right now, want to join?” 

It took Hanzo’s brain a second to catch up. Right. Call of Duty, World War II. Got it. Hanzo was great at that game. 

“If you have room,” Hanzo replied, and stepped around the couch to sit. 

“Yeah, Bap is being a baby and not playing with me, so we got room for you buddy,” Lúcio replied and handed him a light gray and blue controller, and his mouth quirked up when Baptiste rolled his eyes at him “What’s your favorite map? We’ll do local play.” 

Hanzo hesitated, thinking. “Shipment 1944.” 

“Oooh you’re a small map kinda guy, got it. Small maps are good for fast games. What’s your weapon?” Lúcio asked, loading up local play and imputing the map and Free-For-All as the game mode.

“STG-44, bayonet add on, shovel as secondary,” Hanzo listed off, happy that this was a game he actually knew how to play and wouldn’t make a fool of himself with. 

Lúcio blinked at him, then broke into a grin. “Damn! Okay man, I got you, I got you.” Hanzo quickly changed up his load-out and the game started. 

-

McCree does not know what to think. 

In the beginning of his knowing of Genji, Hanzo Shimada was a name never once uttered, unless you wanted to actually get stabbed. 

Then, Genji had healed, and gotten support, and found people who cared about him, and Hanzo Shimada was a name Genji whispered about behind closed doors. Eventually, he reached out, and they, slowly, became brothers again.

From what little Jesse had heard of Genji’s family, they were bastards in every sense of the word; grooming Genji’s brother into the perfect heir with the oppressing belief that the only thing Hanzo could do was obey his elders, follow the ‘giri.’ And that had hurt Hanzo, had twisted him in ways Genji could never really understand, and turned him into the perfect son, at the cost of his humanity, his relationships. 

And then Genji, high on life and being unburdened by the oppressing rule of his family, had gotten cocky, and started challenging his brother. Challenging and challenging, until the elders of the family started whispering in Hanzo’s ear, soft, gentle, innocent little things, that twisted and strung out his heart, poisoning and breaking and chipping away. And Hanzo and Genji fought. 

And Genji ran away, and crashed his car, and disappeared from his family, and they assumed the worst. 

‘It served him right’, they told Hanzo. ‘He knew what he was doing’. 

And for a while, Hanzo believed them.

Until he realized what he had done. Until he blamed himself every waking moment of the day, and had nightmares about how he killed his brother while he slept, and everything had piled up so precariously high, that Hanzo had left. It had taken every ounce of strength left in him, but he left. 

He got out.

And Hanzo healed. 

Well, was still healing, if the way Hanzo’s high walls built around himself proved anything. If the way he held himself high, and daring, like a threat. If the way he surveyed the room before stepping in, and flinched when Lena and Jamie laughed a little too loud. If the way he was silent unless spoken directly to, or how his words weaved the attention of everyone in the room, like a silver-tongued snake who cursed his own ability, and drew everyone’s eyes to him. 

Hanzo Shimada was a name that sat in Jesse’s mouth, turning on his tongue, reminding Jesse of the way Genji had spoken of his brother, once he had forgiven him. With wonder, and intrigue, as much as warriness of the name and the man behind it. 

Genji was Jesse’s friend. Hell, probably his best friend, and maybe even a little more sometimes. (Neither of them had ever talked about that one time over New Year’s break where they had woken up a little too close and with too little clothes for it to be platonical in the slightest, but it was an ever-present memory in their minds.) He didn’t know much about Hanzo other than what Genji told him, but for a long time, he was under the impression that Hanzo was the human manifestation of the devil. Then, the narrative shifted, and Genji talked about Hanzo with almost wonder, once he realized how his brother was expected to act had twisted him, and changed him. 

And then Hanzo got out, so Genji thought, maybe this could be it?

Maybe they could be brothers again? 

And Genji reached out, and then they were brothers again. Maybe a little hesitant, maybe a little too careful around each other, maybe closer to strangers than family, but they built their way up, and now they’re here. With Genji trying and failing to play cards, and Hanzo sitting stoically on the couch, playing games with Genji’s friends. 

-

Lúcio sputters a laugh when Hanzo curses for the first time, at the cost of getting shot and losing the lead, and startling Snowball awake from his spot on Lúcio’s lap. Hanzo’s eyes remain stoically on the screen, focusing on the game, but Lúcio doesn’t think he imagines the slight upturn of Hanzo’s lips and the sidelong glance he sends his way, almost teasing. 

At Lúcio’s side, Baptiste’s eyes widen and he deliberately looks away, thanking God for giving him dark skin so that the blush, that would surely be there, is not apparent.

“What did I say, Hanzo!” Genji calls, and Hanzo can hear his grin in his voice without even turning. 

Hanzo grins openly, and it’s a captivating sight. “I’m not doing anything,” he hums, and something about his voice and his smile makes Lúcio want to believe it. 

“Liar!” Genji laughs and nearly falls off of his chair, leg bouncing, saved barely by Jesse who grabs his shoulders and hauls him back up. 

Hanzo’s grin is infectious and heart-fluttering, and Jesse doesn’t want to look away, except when he realizes he’s staring. Then he looks away. Very quickly. Before anyone else notices. 

Hanzo curses again, slightly louder this time, followed by a short, breathy laugh that makes Fareeha look pointedly at Jesse, eyes wide. 

Ah.

He never actually looked away.

That's fun.

Fareeha rolls her eyes at him and mutters something under her breath that makes Angela giggle and bury her face in Fareeha’s shoulder. 

Jesse sends her a glare and turns away, distracted as Genji proudly shows him three kings, grinning. Jesse nods encouragingly, and takes a sip of his drink, pointedly paying attention to just the game. 

After Jamie (Mei, playing Jamie’s hand because he has no attention span) won, Fareeha and Brigette decided that that was dumb, and they should get drunk and play stupid kids games. Considering no one had any better ideas and nothing pressing they had to do in the morning, they agreed. 

“Oh poor Hanzo, he’s going to fall behind,” Genji teased him, poking his cheek. Hanzo jerked away, and gave Genji a look, before rolling his eyes and taking the tequila bottle and shot glasses next, filling them up with a certain speed that had Genji’s grin falter. 

Hanzo looked his brother square in the eyes, smiled just the slightest, and downed each shot glass like it was water, flipping it upside down on the table when he was done and moving on to the next one.

In no time at all, the shot glasses were empty. Genji’s mouth had dropped open, along with nearly everybody else’s, and he was staring at his brother in utter disbelief.

“What the _fuck_ ,” Genji said quietly, passionately. “I didn’t know you could do that.”

“There are a lot of things you do not know about me, Otōto,” Hanzo hummed, in a voice that was near teasing, and left Genji’s mouth open even wider. 

Genji hadn’t heard Hanzo call him ‘little brother’ in a long time, especially in such an easy-going, teasing tone. It was one hell of a feeling, to hear his brother actively be his brother again. 

Something else about Hanzo’s tone really made Genji question what he knew about his brother. “We’re playing Truths!” he declared to the room. “But just with Hanzo. Hanzo’s the only one who gets to answer questions.” 

The group laughed. “Now hold on there pardner,’” Jesse grinned. “That ain’t really the most fair game to play. How about we just do Truth or Dare?” 

Genji hesitated, then looked to Hanzo. “Fine but Hanzo can only choose Truth.” Hanzo rolled his eyes, but let Genji lead him to the living room and sit him down on the sofa, Genji plopping down nearly on top of him.

Hanzo had always held his opinion on Truth or Dare about the same as how most people view pineapple on pizza, which is to say, it's terrible. 

(Then again, he supposes that playing Truth or Dare at a very expensive, very private highschool with the terribly rich, horny, and popular kids who decided that they needed a little ethnic flavor in their group- and Hanzo was just edgy and hot enough to be allowed to join them- might not lead to formulating the best opinions on the game. The number of people he’s been made to make out with in this game is honestly absurd.)

But, for old times’ sake and appeasing his little brother, he decides that no possible harm could come from him joining this game, right?

Right.

Right off the bat, he decides that that was wrong, considering Jamison just had to give Mei a lap dance, and although he doubts that the others would make him do such a thing considering he only just met them, Genji would not be so resigned. 

Fareeha has to make out with a wall next, much to Angela’s amusement, and Hanzo decides that he definitely should not have joined this game. 

Finally after what seems like a very long time, full of half-humiliating dares and sketchy truths, it is Hanzo’s turn. Genji doesn’t bother asking him ‘Truth or Dare’ just jumps into the question. 

“How many piercings and slash or tattoos do you have?” Genji asks. 

Hanzo looks at him. “Well, at last count, my piercings were up to 31,” Hanzo answers, met with several varying reactions, all wowed by the number. “And I have two full sleeves, and pretty much all of my chest and back covered in tattoos.” 

Genji’s mouth dropped open again. “31? Holy hell, that’s a lot!” he exclaimed.

“Yes, I can’t go through metal detectors anymore,” Hanzo deadpanned, arms crossed over his chest in an almost protective manner. “I do not have all of them in right now, only about 10.”

“Whoa,” Genji said, quieter. “That’s so cool.” 

Genji doesn’t think it's just his imagination that sees Hanzo’s face flush slightly. 

“What’s your favorite piercing?” Fareeha asks, in a way that makes Hanzo think she is actually asking, perhaps for advice on the subject. 

Hanzo thinks for a second, absentmindedly twisting one of his helix piercings, before nudging his bridge piercing. “This one probably. I have had it for the longest.”

Genji nudges him, trying to get him to explain more. 

“It was the first one, while I was still with our family. I picked it because it would be hard to cover, and I… wanted some form of rebellion, I suppose. I could not back out of it.” Hanzo shrugs, feeling very put on the spot.

The conversation strays away from him, thankfully, as it is Genji’s turn. He picks Truth, although he seems very distracted. 

“Anyone got a Truth for Genji?” Baptiste asks, watching as Lúcio plays tug-of-war with Snowball. 

There’s silence as everyone thinks, struggling to find a question Genji wouldn’t normally just blurt out the answer to in a normal conversation, due to him having absolutely no filter in the slightest and no shame in anything he did. 

“How many people in this room have you made out with?” Hanzo blurts out, downing a shot of tequila with only the slightest wince. 

Genji’s eyes widen fractionally, but it's enough that Hanzo knows that he struck something with that question. Genji’s eyes flick to Jesse’s then look away just as quickly. 

Hanzo looks at his brother’s stone-carved face. “God, alright, you do not have to answer it if you are going to have a panic attack about it,” he half-teases, although he is still very curious as to what the answer to that question is. 

“Yeah, I’ll skip that please,” Genji rushes to say, all too happy to accept Brigitte’s question, which Hanzo doesn’t really catch. He’s still trying to figure out what went between Jesse and Genji in that brief moment of eye contact. 

Jesse, for his part, looks entirely unfazed by the question, almost too unfazed though, which makes Hanzo realize that it is nothing but an act. Jesse raises his left hand, examining what Hanzo realizes is a prosthetic, most likely in an effort not to catch anyone's eye.

The conversation continues, and Jesse remains stoically silent and near-unmoving; something that seems odd, even to Hanzo who just met the man. He always seems to be moving. 

It takes long enough to circle back to Hanzo that he is half way spaced out when Genji nudges him, ready to ask another question. 

“What’s your job like? And how’s archery? And where did you learn to drink like that?” Genji rambles out, and it is only because of the shots that Hanzo doesn’t make him leave the other questions for the next round. 

“My job is good, I work mostly in restoration architecture which is a lot of preserving old buildings and things like that,” Hanzo says. This is a familiar question, one he practically has a script for. “Archery is also going well. I had a competition a week ago, where I placed 1st overall.” He smiles slightly at the last question. “And I learned to drink in highschool, Genji.”

Genji’s eyes go comically wide. “Highschool? Really? I thought _I_ was the bad kid in high school!”

“Yes, well, while you were getting laid, I was getting drunk and high,” Hanzo deadpans, his arms crossing in front of his chest again. A protective motion. 

Genji’s mouth drops open, then closes, grinning smugly. “I _was_ getting laid,” he agrees, and Hanzo rolls his eyes.

The others snicker, and continue on in the game. 

“Genji!” Lúcio calls, nearly sitting on top of a close-to-asleep Baptiste, startling him slightly. “Truth or Dare?” 

“Dare!” Genji calls, sliding into the kitchen and nearly slipping on the tile. He comes back with a bag of barbeque chips and throws it at Hanzo before vaulting over the couch. Hanzo blinks as the bag hits the back of his head, shaking his head a little, staring at a point on the coffee table in front of him. 

“Ew, barbeque chips?” Lúcio scrunches his nose up, then shakes his head out, as if clearing an Etch-A-Sketch. “Anyway, anyone got a dare for him?” 

“You don’t have one?” Emily asks, laughing.

“No, why would I?”

“I don’t know, you were just very excited!” 

“Fair enough.”

“Genji, call my dad and tell him he’s the closest thing you have to a father,” Jesse says, sprawled on the ground, leaning against the love seat where Jamie is sprawled over Mei and Brigitte, seemingly playing with one of the puppy’s toys. The puppy himself was towing around Mei’s slipper, tail wagging, presenting it to anyone who looked. 

Genji snorted. “He is though, not much of a dare. They both are.”

“Then it should be easy,” Jesse shrugged, grinning. 

Genji looked at him for a long moment before pulling out his phone, and Hanzo didn’t think he was imagining the bit of redness on his cheeks. He opened his contacts, selected someone named ‘Scary Dad-Man/Papa Reyes,’ and his finger hovered over the phone number, ready to call. 

“This is weird,” Genji muttered, before pressing the button. 

“It’s fine, you just gotta say, ‘Gabriel Reyes, you are the closest thing I have to a father,’” Jesse declares, grinning. 

After many stuttering attempts and a few tries that nearly made it before Genji chickened out, he finally got it out, Gabriel remaining patient and supportive throughout his long, rambling words. 

“Damn straight I am,” Gabriel replied, then hung up. 

The group burst into laughter, even Hanzo chuckling lightly. 

“Jesse, Lúcio,” Brigitte laughs. “Your dad is amazing.”

Jesse and Lúcio share a look and high-five, grinning.

Hanzo looks between the two men, not realizing they were related. Jesse must catch his eye, because he quickly explains. 

“My sister, Sombra, ‘n I were adopted by the man himself, Gabriel Reyes, and Lúcio and his sister, Hana, were adopted by his dad, Jack, ‘n then our dads got together. So we’re not at all related. We’re step-siblings, and adopted,” he shrugs. 

“Yeah, there's like, 4 of us who are related, somehow,” Lúcio adds on. “Jesse and I, and then Fareeha is our cousin ‘cause our dads are brothers, and then Fareeha’s dad is Brigitte’s godfather so Fareeha and Brigitte are practically sisters-” Fareeha and Brigitte high-fived and raised their glasses to each other “- and I’m pretty sure we’re somehow related to like, Tom Cruise or something, ‘cause I met him once in a dream and he was really nice.” 

“Ye-uh, yeah, just skipping over that last part, that's our family tree,” Jesse says, giving Lúcio a questioning look, who only shrugs in response. 

“Are you related to everyone you meet in your dreams?” Lena asks, suddenly appearing at Jesse’s side. “Because by that logic, Emma Watson would be my wife.” Emily throws a pillow at her head. 

“Yeah, and Eminem and Ewan McGregor are my step-brothers,” Jamison supplies, jerking his head up from a pillow, only to drop it right back down. 

“Ah, well, look at us! We’re all related to a famous person!” Lúcio calls, nearly hitting Baptiste in the face with his cup. 

“Mother of God,” Baptiste mutters, dodging Lúcio’s hand. “Jared Leto, but only in full Joker make-up, is my husband then.” 

“When he’s not wearing the make-up, that doesn’t count?” Angela asks.

“By _that_ logic, Emma Watson, but only when dressed as Belle from Beauty and the Beast, is my wife. Which sounds like a Cards Against Humanity hand,” Lena adds on. Emily throws another pillow at her head. “Ow.”

“Tom Cruise, just in Top Gun, then,” Lúcio grins, twisting one of his dreads. 

“Loved that movie,” Jesse says, coming from the kitchen and tossing Lúcio and Angela their chips. 

“Shirley… Temple?” Genji cocks his head, grinning. “But just her in general, I think. She’d be my, what? Wife?”

“No.”

“Little sister?”

“That’s better.”

“Not quite as creepy?”

“Considering I’ve only ever seen her as a child, then yeah.”

“Good to know.”

“Hanzo, you got any dreamy, pun intended, celebrities for you?” Fareeha asks, stealing Angela’s chips. 

“Not really,” Hanzo answers, shrugging.

Genji laughs in his face. “Liar, I know for a fact you always dreamed about that one kid in that one movie.”

Hanzo blinks at him. “I hate that I know exactly what you are talking about.” Genji laughed, folding in on himself. 

“He was so fuckin’ ugly, I could never see what the hell you saw in that clown,” Genji gasped out. 

“I was a child, Genji, I didn’t really have much taste. Also, thank you for outing me,” Hanzo finishes but he doesn’t really mean anything by it.

“Oh, shoot, sorry. You’re not really subtle though,” Genji apologized, relatively sincerely. 

Hanzo brushed it off, letting his brother know that it was not a big deal. He definitely wasn’t the most subtle, but he was certainly better than a lot of others.

Across the room, Jesse and Lúcio made eye contact. _He’s not straight!_ Jesse communicated with his eyes. Lúcio practically vibrated, then glanced over to Baptiste, playing with the dog. _He’s all yours_ , he seemed to say, _I’m still pining._

Jesse resisted the urge to laugh and bit down on the inside of his cheek.

Angela laughed suddenly. “I’m related to the Blue’s Clues man,” she giggled. 

Fareeha snorted and rolled her eyes. “I have Winonna Judd, but only when dressed in drag.” 

“Y’all got some weird-ass dreams,” Jesse laughed, taking a piece of licorice from the bag on the coffee table. 

“What’s your celebrity relation Jesse?” Mei asked. 

“Tom Cruise apparently,” he said motioning to Lúcio. Genji threw a piece of licorice at him in retaliation to the not-answer. “Fine. Clint Eastwood, probably. Back when I used to live with my actual parents, I used to dream Clint Eastwood would be my long-lost grandfather, and he would take me away and we could be cowboys together.”

“Aw, that’s really cute!” Mei said, hands over her mouth.

“Sad, mostly, but okay,” Jesse grins.

“Sad?” Jamison questions, in his third seating spot in the last 10 minutes. 

“Jamie,” Jesse said, almost incredulously. “You’ve met my birth father. ” 

“Ohhhhh.” Jamison’s eyes go wide. “Yeah, that’s on me.”

Jesse snorted, and rolled his eyes, grinning. “So yeah, Clint Eastwood, staring as my long-lost grandfather.”

“Thats a beautiful story Jesse, thank you for sharing your belief in the inherent eroticism of cowboys,” Fareeha snarks, but there’s something in her eyes when her gaze lingers on Jesse for a second. Jesse snorts, rolls his eyes. 

Genji leaned over to Hanzo, and spoke so no one could hear them, switching to Japanese. “His father abused him and his mother, eventually killed her. That’s why he was adopted.” Hanzo stills, nodding slowly, his brow furrowing, before it quickly melts back into his usual mask.

For some reason, that topic takes another 10 minutes, before they eventually get back on track, and Jamison has to take a shot of pure hot sauce, which he accepts gleefully, even taking another one, as Mei and Jesse adamantly try to get him to stop. Jamison giggles, falling off of his chair and nearly hitting his head on the coffee table. 

“Do we want to play something else?” Brigitte asks, sitting Jamison down on the couch. 

“Sure, any suggestions?” Genji says, trying to get an Oreo from his forehead to his mouth without touching it with his hands. 

“Spin the bottle, but by popular vote,” Lúcio offers, sprawled across Jesse and Baptiste, as Jesse attempts to shove him off. 

“If you go on another rant about the Electoral College, so help me _God_ , Lúcio,” Jesse grunts, as Lúcio accidentally smacks him in the face with a dreadlock.

“I wasn’t, actually, but I might, just to spite you,” Lúcio glares at him. “But anyways, I was suggesting we could do Spin the Bottle, but it’s not at all like Spin the Bottle, because instead of spinning a bottle, the other people choose who you are going to kiss,” Lúcio explains.

“That’s... _interesting_. It’s gonna be boring for them though,” Jesse says, motioning to Emily and Lena. “And Fareeha and Angie. And Junk and Mei.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re not gonna make, like, Ange and Genji make out, not that that hasn’t already happened-” Angela and Genji high-fived “-it’s just Angie is in a relationship so we’re not gonna make her make out with anyone who isn’t Fareeha.”

“That’s true, but get this, they will instead get to play puppet master with the people who aren’t in relationships, so that’s arguably more fun,” Lúcio reasoned. Jesse looked at him, then started laughing. 

“I know exactly why you want to play this game,” he laughed. 

“You know what Jess... you probably do,” Lúcio broke into laughter too. “Hey, but, it could help you though.” 

Jesse snorted. “ _Ay Dios Mío_ ,” he hummed, then stood, probably looking for something stronger to drink.

“How much Spanish do you guys speak in your house?” Angela asked, her Swiss lilt painting her words in sugar.

“Oh, a lot. Especially when it's just me, Sombra, and Gabe. We were having a game night the three of us and Hana the other day, and we ended up all screaming at each other in Spanish, because no one ever wins against Hana, so we all wanted to get into second place and Hana just kept shell-ing us,” Jesse answers, yelling from the kitchen. “We technically aren’t supposed to play Mario Kart anymore since last time it happened, I broke the wall and part of my prosthetic, so.”

“Mario Kart is quite the event at the Reyes-Morrison household,” Fareeha hummed, no doubt remembering the last time she played it with her cousins when Lúcio and Sombra both started screaming incoherently, so loud that Jack and Reinhardt had banned the game. 

“Did you punch the wall, Jesse?” Brigitte asks, laughing. 

“Well,” Jesse answers, coming back in with a hand full of shots. “I didn’t _not_ punch the wall.” 

“He punched the wall,” Genji answers, nodding. 

“Alright y’all, are we playing or not?” Lúcio asked. 

Nobody said anything. 

“That’s not a no, so we’re playing,” Lúcio declared. “Look, I’ll even go first!” Jesse broke into laughter again. 

“Should we vote anonymously? Pass around a paper and then decide from there?” Baptiste asks, ever the level-headed one. 

Mei grabbed a notebook and a pen, writing Lúcio’s name and underlining it.

“Alright Lúcio, you want to play the game? Let’s play the game,” Jesse said, grabbing the paper and scrawling down a name, underlining it three times. 

“I think I know who we’re choosing,” Lena giggled, taking the paper next. “Yep!” she laughed, and wrote down the same name. 

In the end, the vote was unanimous, minus Baptiste who stared at the paper for 2 minutes before choosing to write question marks. (Hanzo just wrote down Baptiste because everyone seemed to be taking great joy in that option.)

Jesse took great delight in announcing that the person chosen was Baptiste, and Lúcio apparently did not think he would get this far because suddenly he was frozen. 

Jesse, Fareeha, and Genji were laughing their asses off, while poor Baptiste was staring at a point on the ground, hands over his mouth and nose, unmoving. 

“Lúcio, the people have chosen,” Jesse gasped out, and Hanzo could tell that Baptiste was relieved that they weren’t laughing at him. “C’mon man!”

“This was a bad idea. A very, very bad idea. I am much to gay for this,” Lúcio whispered, sparking Jesse to start laughing even more, leaning on Fareeha being the only way he was still sitting up right. 

“Wait, wait, wait, before you do anything, verbal consent!” Angela called, failing to hide her giggles.

“Verbal consent!” Brigitte repeated, laughing. “It’s important kids, remember verbal consent!” 

Fareeha broke into another fit of laughter, falling onto Brigitte’s leg, Jesse tipping backwards onto Genji. 

Lúcio cursed under his breath, face hot, before turning and asking Baptiste for verbal consent. The group quieted down, awaiting Baptiste’s answer.

“You can say no,” Lúcio whispered to him. 

“No, I- I mean, yes, I consent,” Baptiste answered breathily. When Lúcio and Bap touched, both of their faces were hot. Bap was apparently a very good kisser, even better than Lúcio had imagined. Not that he had imagined it. At all. The others around them screamed and whooped, and Lúcio heard Jesse say something that sounded suspiciously like a _Yeehaw_ , but he couldn’t be sure. They pulled away after perhaps too long of a kiss to be purely innocent, but nobody commented on it. 

“Jesse’s turn,” Lúcio said, once he was sure he could talk again. 

“No, I think we’ve gotten our fill of this game, we should take a little break. Or a big break. Or never play this game again,” Jesse said quickly. 

“No goddamn way!” Genji yelled, pushing Jesse’s shoulder. 

“Jesus, this isn’t going away any time soon,” Jesse cursed, sighing. 

Lúcio grabbed the paper and wrote Jesse’s name down at the top, underlining it before hesitating half a second. He wrote down the name and passed it to Baptiste, who wrote down a slightly different name. 

Jesse poured over his options in his head. His best guess was one of the Shimadas, or maybe Jamie if people are feeling particularly funny today. They wouldn’t make him kiss one of the girls; they're all taken anyway, and mostly gay, except for Brigitte, but Jesse and her are practically related so that’d just be _weird_. 

So, really Genji- who was really not a big deal, he couldn’t even count how many times they had kissed, mostly platonically- and Hanzo, who was another story. It wouldn’t necessarily be awkward between them, merely he worried that Genji would get upset. They had never really talked about their relationship, but it was always something in the back of Jesse’s mind, whenever he found a nice boy to go home with. It always felt like he was cheating on whatever they were. 

Regardless, he could always chalk it up to playing the game, and he hated that he might have to use that excuse. 

It’s not that-.

Well-. 

It’s complicated, was the only excuse Jesse could come up for himself, for not wanting to examine those feelings.

It really was complicated!

A soft, “Jesus Christ,” caused Jesse to look up. 

Hanzo had the paper now and was looking at it with a certain emotion Jesse couldn’t place. 

He hesitated, scrawled down a name as Genji looked over his shoulder. 

“What? No, don't write-!” He cut himself off, grabbing the paper and hitting Hanzo in the face, however accidentally. Hanzo sighed, rolling his eyes as Genji started writing.

“Dont-!” he started, then must realize that he is a hypocrite, so he stops, sitting back against the couch heavily. 

“They cancel out,” Genji whispered to him. 

The paper was passed to Brigitte, then Angela, who blinked at it and took a while to write down a name, looking like she was counting the names. She passed it to Fareeha, who started laughing, and it took a minute for her to stop. 

With that, she gave it to Lúcio who wanted to do the honors of announcing. He looked at it for a long minute, until the others started yelling at him to announce it. 

“Okay, well, someone, I’m pretty sure Jamie, wrote Jamie, so that’s the only vote for him. The others are divided amongst the Shimadas.” He paused. “Evenly.”

“Well ain’t that lucky,” Jesse snarked, dropping his head back on the couch. 

Hanzo and Genji exchanged looks. 

Hanzo said something in Japanese, sounding vaguely insulting, but Jesse couldn’t really blame him in this situation. 

“It’s a tie, so they both get to kiss him!” Jamison chortled, shushed quickly by Mei. 

“No!” Hanzo and Genji said at the same time.

“Wow,” Jesse said softly. 

“I’m not taking his sloppy seconds!” Genji exclaimed.

“ _Wow_ ,” Jesse said louder. 

“No offense,” Genji shrugged at Jesse. 

“Some taken, but keep going.”

“That’s just weird, man,” Genji said, his face screwed up at his brother. 

“Well then Genji, you kiss him, that’s completely fine with me!” Hanzo said, his accent getting more pronounced in a way that made Jesse’s eyebrows raise. 

“Cool I will,” Genji said, apparently satisfied, before kissing Jesse full on the lips, in a way that did not vibe with ‘friends’.

Jesse kissed back, of _course_ he did, it’s Genji, and was very relieved that it was in fact Genji, and everything would be perfectly fine after this because it was just Genji, with no strings between them. 

It was Genji, and when they pulled apart, nothing changed between them, because that’s the kind of relationship they have. 

The others laughed, taking joy in this show, because what else are they supposed to do. 

“How many times do you think you guys have kissed in total?” Jamie asked, laughing.

Jesse sighed, as Genji plopped down next to him, using him as a headrest. “Too many times for it to be strictly heterosexual at this point.” 

Genji laughed, burying his face in his hands. “Jesse,” he giggled.

“What?” 

“We’re both gay! It was never heterosexual in the first place!”

Jesse laughed loudly and happily.

-

The party seemed to go by quickly after that, and Jesse was happy with himself that he was still practically sober, meaning that he would be more than fine to drive. 

Lúcio and Fareeha piled into the car, after saying their goodbyes and making it known to everyone that Jesse would, without a doubt, be at their next little meetup, and Genji joined in, saying that he would also be dragging Hanzo there. Jesse and Hanzo accidentally shared a look, exasperated, and they both grinned, looking away quickly. 

Hanzo was taking a tipsy Genji home, so once Fareeha and Lúcio were buckled and Jesse made sure that Jamie wasn’t running around the yard some more, he pulled out of the driveway and started home. Fareeha and Lúcio were very loud, but not quite as wiggly as they were on the way there, giving time for Jesse to think.

His life hadn’t been an easy one, for the first 11 years, while he was still with his mother and father, and then for a couple years after that, as he relearned how to trust adults. How to trust Gabe, and then Jack, and all of his new family members.

He had been angry, compulsive, and hadn’t realized that Gabriel didn’t see him as just some charity case he could pity and get some cash out of for fostering him. Gabriel had really cared about him, and Jesse realized that everything would be fine here, in this suburban family house, with an annoying little sister running around, and an ex-special ops veteran who cared about him and Olivia more than anything. Sombra was 8 when Jesse came into the house, with mood swings where she either acted 6 or 16, with very little middle ground. 

He had just realized that everything would be fine, then, at 16, he flipped Gabe’s car.

And lost an arm. 

And it had felt like everything was suddenly back to that first day when he was a scared little eleven year old who wanted to only speak Spanish because he was surrounded by people who said they wanted to help but they just kept touching him and talked too loud and too much and it was all too much. 

So, about a year later, Gabriel made him join a support/therapy group, and the only reason he did was because Gabriel threatened to set him up in his own place, and regardless of what Jesse had said, ( _“Fuckin’ good then, I won’t have you breathin’ down my ass 24/7!”_ ) that was the last thing he wanted. Gabriel seemed to know that, seemed to know that what Jesse needed, no matter how angry and berating he was towards his family, the last thing he needed was to feel abandoned in this time. 

So he went to the support group, where he met Genji and Angela, and Zenyatta, the group leader. He eventually dragged his longtime friend, Jamison in, who was missing an arm and a leg, (he liked to joke that the stores were so expensive these days!), and eventually Auntie Ana, and Freeha (who discovered that there was a very beautiful Swiss woman who was also missing her legs, and decided to start coming even more than Jesse did), and Torbjörn. And then suddenly Jesse had all of these people who cared about him and knew him well, and wanted to make sure that no matter what, he would be okay. 

And then Genji opened up to him and it was like watching the most beautiful Cherry Blossom tree in the world bloom. And there were moments in there where Jesse could have sworn that they were falling in love with each other. And now- college, where he was so busy, he could feel spaces growing in what used to be an inseparable friendship.

But tonight… Tonight was supposed to be different, a night where Jesse could just spend time with these friends he had made across the years. And it was time he could spend with his friends, and it was great to see them all, but damn, Hanzo was incredibly distracting. 

And so, here he was, lowkey/highkey thirsting after Hanzo, while still having _something_ between him and Genji. 

And shit, if that didn’t make him feel like a goddamn asshole. 

“Fareeha, your house or mine?” he asked, jerking himself from his thoughts. 

“‘M cars’ at yours,” she slurred slightly, and Jesse could only imagine the look Ana would give her when she got home.

“No way you are drivin’ tonight, lil’ miss,” he laughed and turned down the street to get to Fareeha’s house. “Come by and get your car in the mornin’, a’ight?” 

Fareeha nodded, sighing. “God my parents are gonna kill me,” she said as they pulled up to her house. 

“Probably,” Jesse said, accepting her weak attempt at a hug and wiping off Angela’s lipstick that was smeared on her cheek. “See ya tomorrow!” 

“Bye! Bye Luce! Love you both! Come to my funeral!” she called as she stumbled out of the car and up to her front door

Jesse laughed, and waited until Fareeha was successfully inside and the door was closed, to leave. 

The rest of the short ride to their house was quiet, which Jesse took as a miracle, considering Lúcio hadn’t shut up tonight. 

“Hey Jesse?” he asked eventually, in a voice uncharacteristically soft.

“Yeah?” Jesse responded, running through a light that was barely yellow.

“I’m sorry for tonight. We shouldn’t have played that game,” Lúcio said. 

Right. He forgot Lúcio was a sad/sleepy drunk, even if he wasn’t necessarily drunk right now. Tipsy, at best.

“Nah, it’s fine, Luce, don’t worry. Besides, I think it worked out for you, so-” he shrugged. 

“Yeah,” Lúcio said softly, almost wistfully. “I voted Genji,” he said, and it sounded soft, almost like an apology.

Jesse didn’t respond. “Let’s just get you home, a’ight?” he murmured eventually. 

Lúcio nodded, Jesse saw in the rear view mirror, and he rested his head on the window, eyes drifting closed. 

Home was warm against the biting air of the outside, and Gabriel had gotten horchata from the Mexican market down the street, so Jesse got a glass for him and Lúcio, making his brother drink that and a tall glass of water, before heading to bed. Jesse stayed down for a minute, checking in on Hana, who was still mid-stream, and bringing her a snack and a glass of horchata too. While he was at it, he checked in on Olivia, who was in the game room playing an old Zelda game on the SNES Hana got for her birthday last year. 

“Want some horchata?” he said in lieu of a greeting. 

She shook her head, hardly sparing him a glance, then cursed profusely at something. He rolled his eyes and headed back to the kitchen, putting his and Lúcio’s glasses away, taking Hana’s too when she sped into the kitchen and sped away just as fast.

Someone was walking down the stairs, Gabriel by the sound of it, and rounded into the kitchen as Jesse was closing the dishwasher. 

“Hey mijo,” Gabriel greeted, going to get a class from the cabinet. “How was your night? Fun, from what I could tell.”

Jesse laughed. “Oh yeah, forgot about that,” he grinned. “It was fun. Nice to see everyone. Genji made his older brother come so it was nice to have someone else for him to torment for once.”

Gabriel grinned. “Everyone make it home alright?” 

“Everyone I drove did at least. Lúcio in his room, I had him drink some water and some horchata before he went, so he’s good. Fareeha’s gonna come and pick up her car in the morning because I was not about to let her drive herself home, and Genji went with his brother, so,” he shrugged. “I’ll text the group, tell ‘em Papa Reyes wanted to make sure everyone got home a’ight,” he laughed. 

Gabriel rolled his eyes, grabbed his son's shoulder in a pseudo-hug. “You’re a good kid Jess. I’m proud of you.” 

Jesse looked away, hiding his blushing face and growing smile. “Yeah, I’m the best. Night dad.” Gabriel let him go pushing him softly. 

“Don’t bother Hana by the way!” he called as he started upstairs. 

“It’s like midnight! The fuck she still doin’ up!” 

Hana’s ‘oh shit’ was audible from downstairs.


End file.
